Noghl – A Persian Wedding Tradition
Near the conclusion of the wonderful wedding I was best man at in Mexico recently, the parents of the bride gave Andrea and I a lovely gift. Inside we discovered an…
Meditations - Enlightened gastronomic insights
Essential Viewing: Dan Barber’s “A surprising parable of foie gras”
A truly inspirational talk by chef Dan Barber recounting a trip that he took to a goose farm in the Extremadura region of Spain run by Eduardo Sousa who not only produces…
Vancouver Wine List Woes
In wine-producing regions around the world, wine is accessible: celebrated in daily life and shared often with family and friends. Why, oh, why is this not the case in Vancouver?
Eastside fish ‘n chips
My wife had fish ‘n chips last week. She told me we would. Three days later I got an inexplicable craving for them. Took me a moment to realize why. Then we had to…
Closing in on the source of our meat
There’s just something so special about those Monday mornings when your client pops by the office unannounced carrying a cardboard box with two plump, frozen geese…
Where do you find Lactose Free Yoghurt?
If you are lactose intolerant, your body does not produce enough lactase to break down all the lactose in the foods that you eat and the beverages that you drink. I have…
Great reads worth digesting
I love to read. I love to travel. I love food. I love all 3 combined. Sound familiar? So what’s a girl (or guy) to do when you can’t carry Thomas Keller’s The French…
Julie Rothhahn Food Designer
There are some days when I really wish I could read French. Today was one of those days. Julie Rothhahn’s website looks very fascinating and it looks like…
Macallan Amber Liquer
I’m not a scotch drinker but this Macallan Maple Scotch is seriously delicious! It’s a sweet single malt scotch whiskey that is flavoured with maple and…
Foodists Launches at South China Seas
Something we’ve always wished we did more of was have actual Foodists events. Of course, we’re making that happen now, and what better way to get that ball…
Guidance - Recipes & tips that will convert you
Fermented Black Rice? For Dessert?
This is a special Cambodian dessert dish we were served at Phnom Penh restaurant in Vancouver (they think I’m a famous local chef and always spend extra attention…
Chai (Indian Tea)
Another easy and wonderful traditional Indian dish you can impress your friends with is home made chai. Not the crap you make from a box or pour from concentrate either.…
Cucumber Raita
Raita is a simple Indian side dish made with fruits or vegetables added to spiced yogurt generally served as a cool, refreshing accompaniment with heavier curry dishes.…
Orange and Grapefruit salad
Serves 8 8 large oranges, cut into segments 8 pink grapefruit, cut into segments 8 large basil leaves, cut into Chiffonade Option – for a dessert, substitute mint…
Need A New Edge?
We’ve all got them. Beautiful knives we bought years ago. And we’ve taken good care of them…steeling them before setting them to work, then washing them…
Best…Risotto…Ever!
Had some of my foodie peeps over for dinner a while back, and for one of the courses I threw a little shitaki mushroom risotto together for them. Okay, I didn’t…
Always poke yer eggplant
I relearned this lesson the other day, and would save you all from the explosion that results when you don’t. The misery of the cleanup far outweighed the…
Alessandro’s Pasta alla Carbonara
I normally use spaghetti or linguine, get the thicker kind, not the fine ones. For 8 adults I would be safe and use 1Kg of linguine. Make sure you have a big pot to boil…
Alessandro’s Lasagna
Ok, this is a classic….and this is how lasagne are made in Bologna (where they originally come from). Ingredients (for 8): 600 g of lean ground beef 140 g of…
Groovy Guacamole
Ingredients: 2 avocados – peeled/seeded ¼ small onion – grated 1 large ripe tomato – peeled 1 small scallion – finely chopped ½ green pepper – seeded/chopped…
Worship - Feasting at the temples of others
Warre’s Otima 20 Port
I had been saving this bottle of Warre’s Otima 20-year-old port for a special occasion, and what could be more special than two feet of snow in Vancouver and a…
Ajisai Sushi
My favorite place to worship raw fish in Vancouver is Ajisai Sushi. Thanks to Lisa’s mighty recommendation, I found a place that regularly brings in fresh saba…
Trattoria Italian Kitchen
Every day on the way to work, I walk past a bunch of great restaurants on 4th Ave. Fuel, Gastropod and more recently, Trattoria. The one time I tried to go before, the…
Ping’s Japanese Home Cooking
I was really excited to discover Ping’s Cafe – a new Yoshoku style Japanese restaurant that served all of the Japanese home cooking I grew up on. They have ebi…
Mighty Aphrodite
I didn’t think much of organic food when I first heard about it, thinking it was just for treehuggers or my sandal-lovin pals in Saanich. I was mistaken. It’s…
The Flying Tiger
I read about the Flying Tiger on the Vancouver Magazine website and I was pretty excited to go since they serve “Asian Street Food” and that just conjures up all kinds…
Aurora Bistro Closed
There’s bad news, and then there’s really bad news: After more than five years as the reigning champ of locally sourced, sustainable, gourmet cuisine along…
Red Seal Ale at the Alibi: Get it while you can!
A few years ago, I drove down the coast from Vancouver to San Francisco, winding through Washington State, Oregon and California on the way to a too-short stay in Shaky…
Wild Rice: Better Than Ever
I’ve casually known and been a fan of Andrew Wong for almost a decade years. Wow, has it been that long? Even before he opened his current restaurant, Wild Rice, I…
Brew Ha Ha 2.0
Back in my ad agency days I had the chance to work on both Labatt and Molson brands. Back then I wasn’t much of a mainstream beer guy, preferring instead many of the…